Opinions & Interviews

MOSCOW, 22 November (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia have resources and workforce potential for the development of high-tech healthcare, Ivan Bambiza, Deputy State Secretary of the Belarus-Russia Union State, said at the expert and media forum Innovative Medicine in the Union State: Development Prospects in Moscow on 22 November, BelTA has learned.

“We are talking about the need to increase the population of Russia and Belarus. The countries are facing a demographic challenge. We have seen a natural population increase since 2013, and hope that this positive trend will continue,” Ivan Bambiza said.

The Union State has established its major goals in terms of healthcare. They include to reduce mortality, increase life expectancy, and develop preventive medicine. Screenings and examinations have already yielded results. However, Ivan Bambiza pointed out that these measures only help to detect diseases rather than make predictions about a person’s health in general. “Innovative healthcare is designed to make such predictions,” Ivan Bambiza noted.

He emphasized that both Russia and Belarus have the necessary resources and workforce potential for the development of high-tech healthcare. The Union State is implementing programs to enhance treatment of spine disorders in children, develop cell biology and antimicrobial therapy. “We hope that the medical community will come up with ideas for new Union State programs during the forum,” Ivan Bambiza said.

Russian Deputy Minister of Health Dmitry Kostennikov pointed out the the cooperation between Belarus and Russia helps educe costs associated with research, and certain results have already been achieved. He said a few words about the Union State program for stem cell treatment. “The program opened up prospects for the treatment of a range of severe diseases,” he said.

The expert and media forum Innovative Medicine in the Union State: Development Prospects is held in Moscow on 22 and 23 November. It has been organized by the Union State Permanent Committee and the news agency Rossiya Segodnya. Attending the forum are over 50 healthcare specialists, scientists and media representatives from Russia and Belarus. They have gathered in Moscow to exchange their best practices, present innovative projects, and consider ways to draw the attention of government agencies and the public to healthcare issues.